Tag: how children copy

The year starts...too much cold and then once the weather thaws, I feel the school suddenly comes to life and we have one thing after another scheduled every few days. It was nice to hibernate for a while!

Kat goes to music school every week and one of her favourite classes is composition. It only takes a good teacher to unravel the artist in a creative child. Kat has shown immense talent in composition and we are SO proud of her. The music school had a concert last week where there was a world premier of all the budding composers – as the pieces tend to be extremely difficult, the faculty played them and it was a heart warming experience to hear Kat’s composition being played so beautifully. Her first piano composition is called Variations and I was mesmerised for the entire time. So proud of her! She is now working on another Oriental one and plans to call it Sachi(for happiness and blessing in Japanese).

Kit, on the other hand is trying to copy Kat and is heavily inspired by her compositions – so the other day she decided to compose a song. She has called her song “You are my only love” and I cannot express how cute it is when she sings along. Of course, her playing on the piano and the notes she has written do not match up so much but she has made such a grand effort!

Now we have 2 singing concerts to attend next week followed by Kat’s 5 day school trip. In between that I have to be in Kit’s school for a celebration and a couple of bake sales and book fairs at both their schools...

As long as the weather stays mild...we can do it. After all, Kat has to wear the black dress and ballet flats for the concerts...Rain God – have mercy please!!

Just 10 days ago, I wrote about Kit’s musical first – her first piano lesson. Since then, every time she passes by the piano, she will practice her ‘Old MacDonald... going up to E-I-E-I-O. I am so proud to hear her and see her little fingers playing on the piano (it’s a nice change from thumb sucking too!

Of course, the minute Kat touches the piano for her practice, Kit will magically appear from somewhere and this will be the beginning of a heated argument dominated with “I want to practice my piano” from both sides. In the end (always), Kit can be seen sitting (with a victorious grin) on the piano stool playing some music and singing something totally impromptu...(after all, how much MacDonald can one practice?)

So, this is what happened last week…

After much fighting when Kat had resigned to the rocking chair with her Taylor Swift Speak Now lyrics and piano music, Kit first walks up to her “I want that book” – even before she finishes the sentence, she tries to snatch it from Kat, who has now become an expert at dodging Kit (it’s a survival trick!) quickly hides it behind her.

Kat: “If you are not going to play the piano, I will”

Kit, realising she is not going to get the book OR the piano if she does not decide fast, decides to go straight back to the piano (without wasting any more time – split second decisions here!)

I am in the kitchen right next to the living room where the piano is and I am desperately wishing all this fighting away...in vain. It’s the typical Please Stop – Please let me finish this last thingsituation – of course my dinner is not ready yet so this is not helping at all! To make matters worse – I told Kat’s teacher to come early today which has taken away 30 mins from my cooking time – what a true martyr!

I silently peep from the kitchen and see Kat singing her Taylor Swift lyrics softly (if she’s too loud, Kit will think it to be more interesting and will immediately do something to end Kat’s fun!) and Kit is busy working on her left hand (her most recent piano homework).I go back to the kitchen before I can be spotted and loaded with complaints.

All of a sudden...I hear music being played by two hands. At first I think Kit Kat have made truce and are playing together but then when I walk out of the kitchen, I see that Kit has placed her play Casio keyboard on the piano and is playing her right hand on it and is slowly but surely playing her left hand on the actual piano – I am speechless...this is a huge achievement for her. Anyone who has played piano will know the significance of playing with two hands for the first time. It is a totally different feeling and it takes time to get used to the feel of it…of course, after that you learn to appreciate the sounds more when you play with the left hand as an accompaniment. To see Kit playing this naturally, figuring it all on her own is GREAT WORK. As soon as she finished (all this was MacDonald by the way), I point this out to Kat (who has been watching anyway) and she then tells Kit to play without Casio but on the piano itself and Kit DOES IT! She's got the hang of playing with both hands!!

Fights forgotten, Kit Kat share a hug and when Kat says “I’m so proud of you” to Kit, you can literally see stars in Kit’s eyes. Kat’s praise surpasses everyone else’s. Such is their love hate relationship...

Old MacDonald had a farm....E-I-E-I-O – every one of us with any kind of baby exposure will know that THIS song is what all parents learn quite early on in their parenthood. It never fails to work – at a birthday party, in the car or even to impress grandparents, friends and family!

Ditto at our home. Although Kit sings the Sparks Fly, Mean or It’s Magic, you know by Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez very animatedly (notes and lyrics perfect), she also happens to enjoy the good ol MacDonald in a big way. Still...to hear her sing the same song while playing the piano herself was a very emotional moment for me.

YES, Kit had her first piano lesson yesterday. Those little fingers actually played the keys and after a 45 min (originally intended for 30 min) lesson I was overwhelmed, to say the least. For someone who has been trying to get her to focus and at least remember the middle C on the piano, it was a magical moment for me.

After her lesson, Kit was super excited to show me what she had learned. I was not prepared to hear her playing so sweetly – a proud parent I am, yes I am!

Our piano is a major feature in the living room and Kat has matured immensely in this art of music – credit to our most wonderful piano teacher, Kat has truly blossomed. Maybe it is this familiarity (and of course the competition!) that playing the piano (with the same teacher) has come so naturally to Kit. Whatever it was, it was a big FIRST for her and I am so proud of her.

All morning today, Kit has played her ‘Piano Homework’ umpteen number of times (and definitely over and above teacher’s expectations). The highlight of Kit’s achievements was a special notebook presented to her by...who else but the role model KAT and with a pen too – this has become the most valuable gift of all times!

Waiting (already) for her next lesson next week...Kit is on her way (I hope) to join Kat in this wonderful world of music...

Pretend play and dressing up is what kids do best as Kit’s age of 4 – it’s real fun to watch her transform into a mermaid or (yet another!) princess with such ease. In moments the room is a mini tea party or a picnic for the endless dolls – all being served food in dainty dishes...

Kit and Kat are slowly becoming the sisters who share and play together (it’s taken a good number of years!) and the most imaginative part of this love is their playtime together (courtesy Kat) – lovingly described as ‘School School’ by Kit.

Kit is seated on her little blue IKEA chair (originally Kat’s) – very straight and attentive. Kat makes up this grown up voice and reads out names from an ‘attendance sheet’ – for imaginary students, Kat makes up different voices to say ‘Present’ – when Kit’s name is called out, she immediately responds and also raises her hand to show her presence.

Attendance over, Kat (still in her grown up mode), announces the schedule for the day. Some days, Kit actually has a sheet with the activities for the day (courtesy my printer!).

Activities include story writing time (where Kit tells and Kat writes), spelling time (making use of a whiteboard where Kat writes ‘dog’ etc and Kat spells it) or going over the big world map on the wall.

School School also includes ‘Kumon time’ where Kat helps me tremendously by assisting Kit with her math and reading sheets (some days though, this JUST doesn’t work!) . Also interesting are the little workbooks that Kat prints from the internet purely for playing with Kit. She has now even started using her own pocket money to buy actual kindergarten workbooks (pocket money that was earlier being spent only on iTunes and her own stuff – very impressive!)

When Kat is done playing in the morning session, Kit is assigned homework which she very religiously completes!

There may or may not be another sitting on the same day but whenever Kit Kat decide to play School School next, out comes the big box from the cupboard filled with folders, colours, worksheets and School is ON!

Kit’s vocabulary is being enriched every moment – there is so much to learn! She tries very hard to use all newly acquired words in her regular conversation SO we usually have (wise) comments like “I can see the constellation” during lunch time or “I am very depressed” when there is an argument with Kat.

What I find most interesting is her age calculation. If anyone asks her age and I say 4 years, Kit insists on saying that she is 4 and a quarter! Also, her goal is to be same age as Dora (!) who is (as per Kit) 5 years old (not a bad guess!) and Diego is 11years (surprisingly the same age as Kat)

...and so the word (and number) quest continues and in this journey we come across words like never before – “I goed (‘went’) there” , “I putted (put) it in my cupboard”.

The other day I got a hand made book which read “Bad Tme Stores” – yes, you guessed it – BED TIME STORIES!